Port of South Whidbey raises moorage, campground and parking fees May 1

Boaters docking in Langley will see transient moorage jump to $2.00 per foot per night for vessels 25 feet and longer, up from $1.50, with the seasonal rate effective May 1 through Sept. 30 at South Whidbey Harbor. The Port of South Whidbey voted to raise moorage, campground and parking fees at its Feb. 13 meeting; officials said the changes will affect campers and boaters visiting Langley this spring and summer.

Port-published fee material shows the $1.50 to $2.00 per foot per night change for the 25-foot-and-up tier; at $2.00 per foot, a 25-foot vessel would be charged $50 per night before any rounding. Port documents also state that fees will be rounded to the nearest whole dollar, a procedural detail that could affect non-round totals elsewhere in the fee schedule.

Camping fee increases for both hookup and no-hookup sites appear in the port’s Section I - Land Use Fees, and the port’s notice indicates those camping fees are effective. The port schedule published with the vote does not include specific dollar amounts for campsite hookups or no-hookup sites in the material released alongside the moorage table, and the port has not published a full line-by-line camping rate in its public fee summary.

The port’s justification for the hikes is summarized in meeting materials with the fragment "covering operating costs and mainten", reflecting a stated aim to address operating costs and maintenance needs; the full wording of the port’s rationale was not included in the posted fee summary. The port’s decision will directly change summer budgets for commercial and recreational moorage users and for campers seeking Langley-area sites.

For context on mooring-rate disputes in other jurisdictions, the State Lands Commission recently reviewed a Newport Beach mooring rate plan and found the appraisal used to set higher rates for offshore fields to be fair while urging adjustments for private dock rates; that review involved roughly 800 offshore moorings. Anne Stenton, president of the Newport Beach Mooring Association, said, "Mooring holders have been advocating for reasonable rates for self-installed and self-maintained moorings in Newport, and it’s a shame the city couldn’t have kept the issue focused on maintaining reasonable rates."

If you plan to moor or camp in Langley between May 1 and Sept. 30, note the moorage change to $2.00 per foot per night and that camping fees are listed in Section I - Land Use Fees; tell us in the comments if you’ve already booked a moorage slip or campsite for the summer and how the new rates affect your plans.